MISS MACHINE

This album is agressive and intense. Controlled chaos abounds. The band does a good job of balancing agression with occasional hooks. Considering this mix, the songs are well-written. There are a lot of technically complicated sections. But unlike some bands (Ed Gein for instance), the chaos is followable, and balanced by sections of strange clean melodies and jazzy chords--showing that the guys do know their music theory. There's also some tasteful synth stuff here and there. Overall the album flows really well, and unlike some reviewers, I don't think there are any throw-away tracks on it. It's also pleasantly absent of sometimes-cheezy metal cliches--fantasy lyrics, galloping rhythms, big reverb on drums, drawn-out solos, etc--it's more hardcore than actual metal.

I've tried to listen to this album for years and never could get into it. It was too angry--most lyrics were about bad relationships, which I couldn't totally identify with. Then I found out my wife had been cheating on me and lying to me for over a year. All of a sudden, my emotions and my progressive tastes combined and this album immediately "clicked." Now, I totally "get" this album--and I consider it hard-to-access brilliance. There are other metal bands who are heavier, and lower/darker sounding--but this album contains as much energy and raw aggression as I've ever heard. If you don't have a lot of things to be angry about (especially relationship-wise), you probably won't enjoy this album, because I didn't. If you do, this is just what you need.